All posts tagged The Crazy Ones

The apparent suicide of Robin Williams came three months after the news that his TV comedy “The Crazy Ones” had been cancelled.

The CBS series about an advertising executive working side-by-side with his daughter, played by Sarah Michelle Gellar, wasn’t the only new series of last fall driven by veteran starpower — “The Michael J. Fox Show” inspired similarly false hopes of a hit over at NBC. But Williams attacked the job with a signature vigor that even the youngest talent on television would have a hard time matching.

At the 2013 upfront presentations, when networks went through the glitzy ritual of presenting their new shows to advertisers, Williams took the stage in a three-piece suit and with material that flew in the face of the event’s scripted tone. He joked about strippers, compared advertisers to dogs sniffing each others’ hindquarters, and riffed on the 30 years since he’d last been on a TV show — “when upfronts were just a bunch of TV executives and a big mound of blow.” Read More »

Super Bowl 2014 with the Denver Broncos and the Seattle Seahawks is on and the Journal’s Speakeasy blog is covering the real action–the commercials and the Bruno Mars halftime show. Our all-star panel will be sharing their insight and color commentary–and you can join in with your comments.

Our all-star ad live blogging team includesHarry Hamlin of “L.A. Law” and the acclaimed AMC series “Mad Men”; Sarah Michelle Gellar from“Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and the CBS sitcom “The Crazy Ones”; Columbus Short of the breakout hit series “Scandal” and Dascha Polanco of Netflix’s “Orange is the New Black.”

6:00 pm (EST)

Super Bowl 2014

Suzanne Vranica

Terry Crews and Animal from the Muppets….kindred spirits?

Former NFL player turned actor Terry Crews is appearing in a Super Bowl ad for Toyota Motor Corp., which will promote the 2014 Highlander. His co-stars for this adventure: The Muppets.

In the spot Mr. Crews is driving along a deserted highway and stumbles upon a bus broken down on the side of the road. The dutiful citizen pulls over to ask if someone needs help and is surprised when a mob of Muppets climb into his Highlander.

Two weeks ago, actress and singer Patti LuPone grabbed a cell phone out of the hand of an audience member who was texting during a performance of her current play, "Shows for Days." The bold move led to an outpouring of support from fans fed up with glowing screens. Ms. LuPone gives us her five rules of theater etiquette.